Egg donation & egg sharing
In order to become a fertility egg donor, you will need to fulfill certain criteria to establish your suitability.
Egg donation
Donor age limits: Current professional donor guidelines state that eggs should not be taken from egg donors aged 36 or over. Centres are required to observe the age limit unless there are exceptional reasons not to do so.
Donor screening - Before you donate eggs you will be required to undergo certain screening tests in order to reduce the risks of passing on diseases or deformities to any resultant child.
Donor consent - It is a legal requirement for written consent to be obtained from the egg donor and documented for the use of donated eggs in treatment.
You can change or withdraw your consent at any time up to the point at which your eggs are used in treatment.
Egg donor payment - As an egg donor you can receive compensation of up to £750 per cycle of donation, to reasonably cover any financial losses incurred in connection with the donation, with the provision to claim an excess to cover higher expenses (such as for travel, accommodation or childcare).
If you are an egg donor who is not a permanent resident of the UK you may be compensated in the same way as a UK donor but you will not be able to claim an excess to cover overseas travel expenses.
These decisions follow was a result of a public consultation on sperm eggs and embryo donation held in 2011:
Egg sharing
Some clinics offer egg sharing programmes. Egg sharing involves a woman undertaking fertility treatment who donates some of her eggs to the clinic where she is receiving treatment. In return, the clinic can subsidise her treatment costs.
Since egg sharing involves donating some eggs for the use in the treatment of others, the rules regarding donation apply equally to egg sharers (see egg donation above).
Further information on egg donation and egg sharing
Page last updated: 15 August 2012
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